http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009 ... ss&emc=rss

Well, I suppose it's good that at least someone is being represented, I just wish it were the people more than the banks. Maybe the Teabaggers were onto something, despite most of them having their anger somewhat misdirected.

EDIT:
on the bright side, at least one of our Senators was doing his job:
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/r ... 1#position

I am glad that this did not pass and I hope it continues to fail.

If you don't want to support credit card companies/banks/pay high interest don't get a fucking credit card

Save stupid from stupid for sure

Kudos to the Senate for keeping arbitrary gov't limits out of the credit market.

I don't think credit card companies should be able to massively increase your interest rate because you are late with one payment, but other than that, +1 to Ramirez.

If someone offers you a credit card with 30% interest and you accept the card and charge things with it, you then shouldn't whine, when you get charged 30% interest.

fine print my man...gotta read it.

also be aware that the fine print can change. I think that's one of the issues being addressed.

that is actually included in the fine print.

I really think C.C. companies are some kind of scum...I really, truly do That's why I hold one card and it get's paid down before the 1st of every month. I am the 'free-rider' that they HATE

It is a very competitive market for credit card companies. They want and need your business. Keep that in mind. So, if you are paying an annual fee, you should call your credit card company and ask to have the fee waived or you will cancel the account. Going forward do not accept a credit card with an annual fee. Also, they have to get competitive on interest rates so you may be able to haggle with your current CC company on interest rate. The consumer has the power by the option to cancel the account. Free market FTW.

However, it shouldn't matter what your interest rate is because no one should be carrying a balance. If you have to carry a CC balance then readjust your lifestyle. Evil credit card companies win when you live beyond your means.

I know people who had no other option but to finance their college education on credit cards. But these people were smart enough to play the game of transferring balances to lower interest rate credit cards. I just want to point out that there are circumstances where it is not realistic to be able to pay it all off every month.

And let us not kid ourselves, this bill failed because our government is not designed to represent "the people". It is designed for those who can afford to purchase our government.

That's the problem - I do not have a problem with certain aspects of credit cards, but they really are evil fuckers who can and will change the rules mid-game. Do you read the fine print every time your bill comes?

I used to be really good with my cards - did not use them much, and generally either paid them off completely or kept a balance far below my limit and always paid far more than the minimum. I actually had a card which lowered my limit to just over my balance (since they weren't making money off me, I guess), and BAM! my interest pushed me over the limit, resulting in a bunch of extra expensive fees. That's what I call bullshit, and apparently so did a bunch of others, so there was a class-action suit which netted me about $20 after paying the lawyers. There were also times when a payment was marked 'late' despite being paid well in advance. Now, I have one for emergencies and things like car rental/hotels since they put a hold on your debit card (if they take it at all), pay on line well in advance, and keep the limit low and the balance lower, so it's at least easier to track.

But seriously, fuck a bunch of credit card companies. Usury laws exist for a reason, and it's bullshit that the credit card companies get away with things no other lender can or will.

By the way, weren't you guys the ones saying "follow the money trail to political influence" in all those other threads? Are credit card companies deserving of special treatment or something?

I'm glad you learned from your credit card experience. I did as well. the financial irresponsibility in this country has grown to epidemic proportions (on all sides...duh). I don't think 'Daddy' can fix that by going out and punching the bulley in the eye for you. The best way to stick it to the credit card companies? learn to budget and live within your means. I mean once we level payday lenders and then the credit card companies what are we going to do go after those mean auto dealerships that forced you to buy a Lexus?

While I appreciate your candor and humor, I think it's a mistake to completely lay blame on the consumer or the companies. I agree 100% that people need to be more responsible, but it's also quite the rigged game, and you know it is. Laws which prevent overly predatory practices are not inherently a bad thing, and the credit card companies have all sorts of ways to screw people over. While you can pretend that credit problems are all the result of people over-reaching for luxury items (a Lexus! brilliant.), the sad truth is that a large part of the average person's debt is not so luxurious, even though it still can be quite irresponsible.

Looking at the past three to four decades or so, the spending power of the average American has reduced because their wages have not kept up with the rising cost of living. A lot of things are now purchased through debt. Again, I agree that a lot of people do stupid crap on credit, it's not the entire picture either, and a lot of people use credit cards and other debt just to stay afloat during leaner times. Stupid and irresponsible? Yes. But also sometimes a necessity.

And once you've been burned it's hard as fuck to get back to a point where your credit score (and therefore how much you'll be able to purchase and your interest rates on all sorts of things from houses to car loans) is not completely screwed. It took me some time to pay off a debt which was relatively small; I don't even like to think about how much extra it cost me to climb out of that hole and how difficult it was to repair my credit score.

Such as your car needing $800 worth of work IMMEDIATELY, or your dog getting Lymphoma and needing $400 treatments every month.

Right, emergency use. IMO, that is what a credit card is for. That and purchasing airline tickets and rental cars.

Actually, I'm switching over to pay almost everything thru my credit card. It's a true "cash back" card - Chase Freedom (actually mine is the Plus version, but the Plus requires a minimum balance or there's an annual fee) and it offers 5% cash back on certain top categories of purchases and 1% otherwise. I've saved $20 in just one month. Since I pay it off each month, it's free money and I'm sticking it to "the man."

Just a suggestion for a way to "game" "the man" at his own game.

Yeah, I dig that. I do not use it for everything as I don't want a repeat where an emergency screws me over, but it's through my bank and I get cash back, so I use it when I buy airline tickets, etc., then pay it off. PLus, since it's through my bank, it's easy to just do an online transfer to pay the bill.

Actually, in a certain sense, you're sticking it more to the retailer and not the CC companies. All those benefits that cards provide are paid for by someone, right? It's the seller that pays a fee everytime they swipe someone's card through their reader. Now if you're wallyworld, you probably don't care about $.65 charge per purchase or whatever it is. But if you sell $1.75 cups of coffee, and everyone wants to put it on their card, it sucks a little more for the seller. I know an artist who sells ceramics out of a home studio/gallery, and paying for the priviledge of accepting credit cards is quite a significant expense for her business.

Do you think loan sharking should be legal, then?

I like small retailers who are not set up for credit cards. yes it makes me mad sometimes but when I really think about it I'm impressed by their conviction not to be held hostage by Visa, Mastercard, Discover and Amex.



I guess that would make it not loan sharking, then wouldn't it

Exactly. To add, Discover takes an even bigger chunk than Visa or MC.

only 10%-20% --- Loan sharks sound a lot more humane than US banks

I'm one of those deadbeat customers who pays on time every month and has never been late. Capital One rewarded me by raising my interest rate from 4% to 15.9% completely unprovoked by anything I did or did not do.

I called them and after reviewing my account, they decided they wanted to keep me as a customer and froze my 4% interest rate until January 2010. I plan to pay the entire balance off by then and I will still be leaving them. They were supposed to protect me from the interest rate Vikings in their commercials but instead, they sent them after me.

In other news, I haven't used my Chase card (member since 1998) in two years. I have a zero balance on that card. It was my emergency card. Chase sent me a letter to tell me my account was automatically closed. I had a pretty high limit on that card and it was a very good mark on my credit as I have paid that card off multiple times since 1998. They decided to fuck me over by canceling my account and now my credit score will actually suffer for it.

I'm done with credit cards. I hope they enjoyed the interest payments from me over the years.

Your case in both instances is an unfortunate side-effect of the new credit laws that are going into effect. Chase does not want you as a customer because you don't use your card and therefore are costing them money by having a large credit limit. Capital One did it because they can.

Your credit won't get hit as bad as you think. What I would do is open a new account with Chase and use that card instead of the Capital One card. Chase has a really, really, good track record with fraud protection and they are big enough to bully merchants who try to scam their customers. Yes, I work for Chase in the Fraud department. Also keep in mind, that Chase is one of the few banks that's actually making money and hiring people, especially in Cbus.

Sorry about your luck though, seriously.